The Thrustmaster T500RS Thread

[Michelcleo]

Well thats my 3rd returned for a refund.
After around 30 min racing the wheel was so powerless it was pathetic, somethings happened as with all the added fans the wheel performed great for a few days but now does'nt, sick to death of v2's now !

Brick was cool, motor was just warm, wonder what the weak bit is ?

 

[left888]

I have 2 version 1's and they get worked hard. Probably anywhere from 2-8 hours per day. One of the fans did not work for well over 1 year, then a few months ago it started working. Other then the fan they have been bullet proof. I would recommend them to anyone.

Preview: High-end GT Wheels (for T500RS or G25/G27).
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/2324899.page

I have seen those before, I think it was at iRacing. They are about as nice as any after market wheel I have ever seen. Those are beauties.

 

[PLazarou]

Here are some shots of my V.2, couldn't match the photography skills!

The last two are from the underside of the rim, which appears to be the worst area.

What are your thoughts LogiForce? Does it remind you of your V.2 or was yours worse than that?

 

[LogiForce]

Here are some shots of my V.2, couldn't match the photography skills!

The last two are from the underside of the rim, which appears to be the worst area.

What are your thoughts LogiForce? Does it remind you of your V.2 or was yours worse than that?

Mine was definitely worse than this. I think they simply revised the production process of these rims. That or mine was just a monday morning product (in other words, a product that didn't have a lot of attention).

The red marker isn't vague/washed out on your rim. The rubber seems darker and the seem less present. Actually it is my rim of the v4, but than before the 1 year wear. The use of the wheel will wear the rubber seam out.

ps. I didn't think I was that good at photographing. lol

 

[oqvist]

Here is my 30$ SLI Plate

Revs only work with simraceway and iRacing though and the three knobs only simraceway I believe.

 

[LogiForce]

Well thats my 3rd returned for a refund.
After around 30 min racing the wheel was so powerless it was pathetic, somethings happened as with all the added fans the wheel performed great for a few days but now does'nt, sick to death of v2's now !

Brick was cool, motor was just warm, wonder what the weak bit is ?

The motor driver part of the electronics. Think about mosfets, voltage regulators and nearby elco's most likely. Elco's are sensetive to heat.

Manufacturers tend to deliberately put them next to a heat source to reduce the life of any product. Same with the use of plastic gears which wear out quickly, instead of using metal ones wouldn't be that much extra costs. Kinda typical things that you can do to reduce product life. Though I am not saying Thustmaster deliberately did, but just saying stuff like that is to look out for in any product as being possible problem areas.

 

[PLazarou]

Mine was definitely worse than this. I think they simply revised the production process of these rims. That or mine was just a monday morning product (in other words, a product that didn't have a lot of attention).

The red marker isn't vague/washed out on your rim. The rubber seems darker and the seem less present. Actually it is my rim of the v4, but than before the 1 year wear. The use of the wheel will wear the rubber seam out.

I was thinking the same. So the possible explanations are:

1) The V.2 always had fairly decent rims, and yours escaped QC.
2) There was an early batch of V.2s that came with a shoddy rim that you described, and the ones since then have been fine.
3) All V.2s had a shoddy rim but the ones that still haven't been sold are being replaced with later rims before reaching the distributors.

Anyway... this isn't the definitive proof that I was looking for, and only appears to support Thrustmaster's claim that 'they're all the same'. However, there are photos of the brake springs that are clearly different. Some comparison shots of the wheel's internals between V.2 and V.4 could lead to further evidence of differences.

I believe Mr Basher has some good shots of the internals of the V.2... I certainly don't expect you to open up your V.4 (particularly if it voids the warranty?) but there must be somebody with good shots of the V.4's internals...

 

[JogoAsobi]

Joined the club today, updates to follow as I migrate in coming days.

Big thanks to Mrbasher, Mahnegold, Hwangm, LogiForce, and oqvist for all the info, and advice via PMs.

 

[mrbasher]

The force is strong with this one...

(pun intended)

 

[Hwangm]

Congrats dude, da da dada ta dada ta dada(emperor strikes back song)

 

[Dean]

I must admit; I had my doubts for this, but now I can say to those who questions if they should get it: get it! Simply amazing, compared to a DFGT.

 

[WildRun]

(UK) THIS WEEK ONLY OFFER: T500 RS at £299.99 inc VAT
(The deal ends on Wednesday morning next week)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GC-028-TH

 

[PLazarou]

Tempted to buy another to see they really have V.4s as they claimed... then I'd have three T500 boxes in my room.... I'm running out of space!

 

[Michelcleo]

(UK) THIS WEEK ONLY OFFER: T500 RS at £299.99 inc VAT
(The deal ends on Wednesday morning next week)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GC-028-TH

Gutted, nice price, i ask them to check and they say they are all v4's.

Just need to wait for ebuyer todo the refund now, shame i'll not make the £299 price

 

[oqvist]

Isnt the version nr on the box for the region its supposed to ship to. Explains why some feel they get the wrong revisions?

 

[PLazarou]

Gutted, nice price, i ask them to check and they say they are all v4's.

Just need to wait for ebuyer todo the refund now, shame i'll not make the £299 price

If you look at couple of pages back, you'll see my replacement from Amazon came in a V.2 brown box, said V.4 on the underside of the product box, and contained V.2 wheel and pedals. So I'm not 100% confident that they really have V.4s...

 

[Dean]

I got V1's in a V4 box... Odd, I guess.

 

[Michelcleo]

If you look at couple of pages back, you'll see my replacement from Amazon came in a V.2 brown box, said V.4 on the underside of the product box, and contained V.2 wheel and pedals. So I'm not 100% confident that they really have V.4s...

Ah,
The second unit i recieved was a v4 box, it had a v4 sticker over the v2 marking, sure enough it was a v2 and lasted about 11 days before it went poof with burned electronics, it allso had v32 firmware so could of never ever been a v4.

So i had in total 2 wheels from ocuk in a 30 day period all v2 and both with issues, 3rd from ebuyer a v2 allso loses alot of its torque so its only really any good for a 15 min race and a 15 min break

Ocuk are a very good shop, sure they have there failings here and there but my returns and refund was a very easy proccess and there customer support that i recieved i thought was fantastic.
They allso have good forum support under the customer services forum hence the reason ill go back and buy from them again.
Obviously no 2 dealings are the same so the next man may get bad service but from my experience and this wheel i can reccomend ordering from them as if the wheel goes faulty in the first few weeks they will arrange for a replacement.


Scary stuff trying to get a wheel that is'nt from the ice age

 

[PLazarou]

I've just sent OCUK a message asking if they can check the underside of the wheel itself, so we shall see what they say.

I'm tired of dealing with Amazon, after receiving three V.2s from them. Their customer service is generally great if it's a simple replacement request, but when it's really specific like this, involving physical item checks, a lot of the detail is lost in the communication across their huge departments.

 

[PLazarou]

Got a response.

This was my message:

I have previously inquired about the T500RS wheel, asking what version you have in stock, and you replied saying that they are 'V.4'. Since then I had the opportunity to purchase one of these items from Amazon, which was a 'V.2'.

I requested a replacement from them after they confirmed that they also had 'V.4' in stock. When it arrived it said 'V.4' on the underside of the product box, but still contained 'V.2' wheel and pedals (marked on the sticker on the underside of the actual devices).

I understand that you still have V.4s on sale, and I was wondering if you have confirmed that they really are V.4s inside? From my experience with two replacements through Amazon, the only way to be sure is to check the underside of the wheel itself.

Regards

And their reply:

Thanks for the webnote.

I believe they will be like the ones you have received then unfortunately.

Regards,

Mark Carter

Hmmm. That wasn't the definitive answer I was hoping for. Sounds like he doesn't want to check? And yet in the most recent customer review on the product page the guys says he got a V.4...

 

[Michelcleo]

Got a response.

This was my message:



And their reply:


Hmmm. That wasn't the definitive answer I was hoping for. Sounds like he doesn't want to check? And yet in the most recent customer review on the product page the guys says he got a V.4...

That's a bummer that is.

If they open the box though and its not a v4 and you dont want it they will have to sell it as a " open box " and lose money ?

I too see the reviews from customer stating v4, i suppose he is lucky and we possibly might not, it sure does stink to high heaven

I sure dont want a v2 after a few eek v2's, losing torque just is'nt on.
I see peeps with v2's and there happy though so i dno, i allso see people playing with 40fps and saying it plays fine when 60fps is the minumum for most of us so it could be subjective or people just dont notice or possibly faulty wheels.

 

[PLazarou]

Well my situation is this:

- Bought T500 from Amazon, noticed an issue with the wheel immediately, which was a distinct 'lump' in the rotation.
- Reached a conclusion this was from a warped belt. The V.2s appear to have left the factory in early 2011, which means the belt was sat in this position for roughly two years.

(No surprise then, that the lump is still there after two months of use and storing it in different positions.)

- Get confirmation from Amazon that they have version 5, and they send me a V.2, which I send straight back.

- Get them to check again very thoroughly what version they have, and they say 'V.4' so they send me a third V.2.

I now have the original V.2 and the third (untouched) V.2 in my room. Even if I ignore the lump, which is less prominent now, I'm finding further problems. It's now making a loud fan noise (different and louder than the first few weeks), the pedals are staring to squeak, the whole wheel squeaks under load, and in the last few days it has started to miss upshifts on the right paddle. Haven't noticed any loss of torque though.

So what do I do? The fresh V.2 that I received appears to be just as old, so could well have the same problems. I could send both back and just get a refund and forget about this product, I could send the old one back and try the new one for a while, or I could send the new one back and see if they want to send me yet another replacement (unlikely). Or.... I could actually contact Thrustmaster. But their line is 'they're all the same'. An Amazon supervisor contacted Thrustmaster while I hung on the line, and they said 'the only difference is the firmware' to him too.

 

[DaveTheStalker]

You have a 2 year warranty through Thrustmaster. They will address any issue.

My breaks squeak too when the unit is cold. I have a belt lump, when my unit is cold. I point the space heater at the wheel for awhile and it makes it less of an indentuon.

 

[Zero7159]

If I were you, I would try the new V.2 and see if you experience the same problems. As mentioned above, you have a two year warranty. The T500RS is a solid wheel. I got mine in June 2012 and absolutely love it. I have a V.4, but the fan gets loud just like your V.2, and it vibrates somewhat. The wheel still works like a charm, even after daily use, sometimes for several hours with heavy force feedback. I wear headphones and so I can barely hear any sound from the wheel.

 

[LogiForce]

You have a 2 year warranty through Thrustmaster. They will address any issue.

My breaks squeak too when the unit is cold. I have a belt lump, when my unit is cold. I point the space heater at the wheel for awhile and it makes it less of an indentuon.

Why not contact TM about the belt? Sounds annoying.

Also...
It breaks = it is in the process of falling apart
It brakes = it is in the process of slowing down

This mistake is so often made on here with all these car lovers, it is almost idiotic and surprises me each time. Cause one would expect that one knows the difference between a brake or a break.

Now I will continue with my coffee break.

 

[kikie]

My guess; if you buy a T500 online which is less expensive, you probably goning to getalmost everytime an older version of the T500.

 

[Michelcleo]

My guess; if you buy a T500 online which is less expensive, you probably goning to getalmost everytime an older version of the T500.

Thats a scary idea as it does'nt matter what version it is v1 should be the same price as a v5.

The wheel im waiting on refund from ebuyer was £350, that link is now dead and they have the wheels for sale now at £433.

If by some chance they do have v5 at that price only, then we are being scammed by thrustmaster ect as there should be no price difference between versions.

We need somebody to take the chance and buy from ocuk, i cant untill i have a refund but if nobody has one by then i will get it 100% as i trust in ocuk todo the right thing, i did return my wheels because they was faulty so trying to return a unwanted wheel may incur restocking fee or may not and i accept that because i like ocuk and i understand how things work and sometimes we get lucky and a shop takes the hit and not us.


I'm requesting ebuyer replace the unit like for like if the models are a later version even though they are now £83 dearer so they may tell me todo one and give a refund so ocuk is next stop.

 

[kikie]

What I meant to say is that it is possible that the T500's that are less expensive (sometimes a lot) than the official price, and which you can buy online, are older versions of the T500.

They official reason for these discounts is, as we all know, probably bulk orders.

 

[Michelcleo]

What I meant to say is that it is possible that the T500's that are less expensive (sometimes a lot) than the official price, and which you can buy online, are older versions of the T500.

They official reason for these discounts is, as we all know, probably bulk orders.

No worries kid, i got you the first time thats why i said Scary idea

I wonder if there was a time when a v4 box had a v4 unit and now thats not the case, then forces are at work, maybe old stock reworked, who knows.

I honestly dont mind a v2 if they worked correctly but 3 in a row possibly from teh same batch even though from different shops puts me of anything v2.

 

[kikie]

Oh, ok.

Hehe, I'm not a kid. I'm probably older than you.